Drunkula
Landlord.
- Joined
- Dec 1, 2017
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Hi Clint. No, not reliable in that you have to adapt to every kitchen and how good/crap their grill or oven or hob is.
I much prefer a risen dough for naans - simple as can be, about 65g of water to every 100g of flour. You can replace all or some of the water with yoghurt if you want to get all fancy - I used to do that, as soon as you're doing it for other people sod that. So yeah, salt, yeast and a few teaspoons of oil. Kneading isn't anywhere near as critical as with bread so I do rough mix with a spoon then leave it for 20 minutes because if you knead with your hands straight away it sticks, after 20 minutes on its own it doesn't. Then give it a basic knead - use a mixer if you want, like I said you don't have to get it crazy window pane level or anything. Then just leave it for 40 minutes of whatever so it goes that spidery strand thing happening. You can leave it a few hours if you want.
Amazingest tip of all time - have a big bowl with flour in it. Cut off a bit of dough, ball it, flatten it and flour it in the bowl. Roll it out, if it's sticking then do the bowl thing again. You can turn and flip the dough and get it round if you want, do it pitta or teardrop shape. You can't actually teach somebody the rolling, it just happens over time and you'll never know why you're better at it. Your naans might not puff for the first 4 times you make them, then they will forever.
Ok, this is the adaptive bit - I think the best ones are where you've got a grill that's ballistic hot and you put an upturned grill or oven pan in and get is screaming, put your rolled out naan on it, put it in and you'll see it puff really fast and you might have to move the pan about to stop the fekker burning, then you flip it and finish the other side. Sometimes the bread hits the flames or bars as it rises and those burnt bits are amazing. That's my #1 choice. And you undercook rather than overcook because they get biscuitty and dry - like the rolling eventually you'll know it's cooked and it's quicker than you think. It's a bit like fajitas - a hot pan makes them softer, not dryer because the longer you cook the more you cook out the water.
My friends have a double oven and the top oven's hidden element is right at the bottom - it's a horror show of heat and amazing and as long as wifey is out we throw the naans straight on the bottom and they're amazing - you get a little burnt flour and I'd say 70% of the time the smoke alarms go off but it's worth it.
Last resort, and it's sometimes not that bad - big frying pan. NEVER use fat, everything is done dry. Get the pan pre-heated. I only ever do this on the induction cooker my friend has and 8 is about the right power on theirs.
As soon as the naan are cooked you can either have them dry or if you want them soft put them in a pot with a lid. I chuck on a spoon of garlic butter and use the back of a spoon to rub it over. DON'T do the tea-towel method as the naans will taste of lenor - it's grim. With the garlic butter you can mix 50/50 with oil and nobody can tell. I tend to use garlic powder for garlic butter because it's dead easy - BUT some brands make the butter really dark and rank - I can't remember which are better. Of course it isn't better... it's bloody laziness and it's fairly good.
If you want to get all fancy lad!
Roll out a naan half way, ball of grated cheese in the middle, fold bits at a time into the middle so you've got a ball of cheese inside the dough, flour and roll. You have to make sure you haven't trapped too much air as you'll get rips when you roll. Prick it with a fork if you have to - again it's a nightmare at first then weeks later it's not.
Keema are done exactly the same way as the cheese.
Nigella / black onion seeds make them taste like the sort of naans you get from Asda that fall apart in your hands because you bought about 50 packs when they were 10p and kept them in the freezer for months (m'lud). You can also do sesame seeds - I recommend sprinkling on part way during the roll as sprinkling them on means 70% will fall off when you turn the naan over.
Press garlic slices or coriander into them.
I think I might have missed out method stuff, Clint, sorry - my eyes are too sore to re-read, just pick me up on stuff I've messed up. Cheers.
I much prefer a risen dough for naans - simple as can be, about 65g of water to every 100g of flour. You can replace all or some of the water with yoghurt if you want to get all fancy - I used to do that, as soon as you're doing it for other people sod that. So yeah, salt, yeast and a few teaspoons of oil. Kneading isn't anywhere near as critical as with bread so I do rough mix with a spoon then leave it for 20 minutes because if you knead with your hands straight away it sticks, after 20 minutes on its own it doesn't. Then give it a basic knead - use a mixer if you want, like I said you don't have to get it crazy window pane level or anything. Then just leave it for 40 minutes of whatever so it goes that spidery strand thing happening. You can leave it a few hours if you want.
Amazingest tip of all time - have a big bowl with flour in it. Cut off a bit of dough, ball it, flatten it and flour it in the bowl. Roll it out, if it's sticking then do the bowl thing again. You can turn and flip the dough and get it round if you want, do it pitta or teardrop shape. You can't actually teach somebody the rolling, it just happens over time and you'll never know why you're better at it. Your naans might not puff for the first 4 times you make them, then they will forever.
Ok, this is the adaptive bit - I think the best ones are where you've got a grill that's ballistic hot and you put an upturned grill or oven pan in and get is screaming, put your rolled out naan on it, put it in and you'll see it puff really fast and you might have to move the pan about to stop the fekker burning, then you flip it and finish the other side. Sometimes the bread hits the flames or bars as it rises and those burnt bits are amazing. That's my #1 choice. And you undercook rather than overcook because they get biscuitty and dry - like the rolling eventually you'll know it's cooked and it's quicker than you think. It's a bit like fajitas - a hot pan makes them softer, not dryer because the longer you cook the more you cook out the water.
My friends have a double oven and the top oven's hidden element is right at the bottom - it's a horror show of heat and amazing and as long as wifey is out we throw the naans straight on the bottom and they're amazing - you get a little burnt flour and I'd say 70% of the time the smoke alarms go off but it's worth it.
Last resort, and it's sometimes not that bad - big frying pan. NEVER use fat, everything is done dry. Get the pan pre-heated. I only ever do this on the induction cooker my friend has and 8 is about the right power on theirs.
As soon as the naan are cooked you can either have them dry or if you want them soft put them in a pot with a lid. I chuck on a spoon of garlic butter and use the back of a spoon to rub it over. DON'T do the tea-towel method as the naans will taste of lenor - it's grim. With the garlic butter you can mix 50/50 with oil and nobody can tell. I tend to use garlic powder for garlic butter because it's dead easy - BUT some brands make the butter really dark and rank - I can't remember which are better. Of course it isn't better... it's bloody laziness and it's fairly good.
If you want to get all fancy lad!
Roll out a naan half way, ball of grated cheese in the middle, fold bits at a time into the middle so you've got a ball of cheese inside the dough, flour and roll. You have to make sure you haven't trapped too much air as you'll get rips when you roll. Prick it with a fork if you have to - again it's a nightmare at first then weeks later it's not.
Keema are done exactly the same way as the cheese.
Nigella / black onion seeds make them taste like the sort of naans you get from Asda that fall apart in your hands because you bought about 50 packs when they were 10p and kept them in the freezer for months (m'lud). You can also do sesame seeds - I recommend sprinkling on part way during the roll as sprinkling them on means 70% will fall off when you turn the naan over.
Press garlic slices or coriander into them.
I think I might have missed out method stuff, Clint, sorry - my eyes are too sore to re-read, just pick me up on stuff I've messed up. Cheers.
